Canada 2020 Policy Lab: The National Pharmacare Initiative

by Alex Paterson. Posted March 26, 2018

Canada 2020 will be hosting a Policy Lab on National Pharmacare Initiative on Thursday, May 29th 2018 in the Canada 2020 Studio in Ottawa.

On May 29th, Canada 2020 is convening a full-day session on National Pharmacare, in response to the government’s Budget 2018 commitment to create an Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare. In the Budget, the government cites the high costs of drugs and the statistic that one in ten Canadians cannot afford the prescription drugs they need as reasons why a National Pharmacare plan is needed.

The Canada 2020 Policy Lab will help us think through a number of issues and opportunities surrounding National Pharmacare, with particular emphasis on:

What are the major bottlenecks in implementing National Pharmacare? How can these bottlenecks be addressed? Are there any risks of “catastrophic” implementation failure, and how can these risks be reduced?

How can the federal government best work with other stakeholders, including (but not limited to) provincial, territorial and Indigenous leaders, private insurers and the pharmaceutical industry in designing and implementing a National Pharmacare program?

What international models should the government consider (and avoid) if they choose to implement National Pharmacare?